The Portland Public School District’s new five-prong strategic plan, concentrating on the district’s vision for equitable education and strong systems, was the focus of the annual State of the Schools address Monday night.

It was Board of Education Chair Sarah Lentz’s third address in front of the Portland City Council.

Lentz homed in on the plan approved in June, which is focused on five priorities: equity, achievement, whole student, people and systems. The district’s prior strategic plan, called the Portland Promise, went into effect in 2017 and expired after five years. Lentz walked through ways each of the new plan’s priorities have been implemented in Portland schools over the past semester.

Under the first strategy of equity, she cited a growing Wabanaki history curriculum, multilingual library books and a new food services director focused on a more diverse menu.

On achievement, Lentz pointed to the district’s high school redesign project, an ongoing study of special education services, and coming universal implementation of math, science and language arts curricula.

The third strategy, called whole student, is an initiative to nurture entire school communities. Lentz said that in its first year, the district is implementing more social-emotional learning, identifying students who need support services, and increasing access to sports, clubs, other non-school activities and student leadership opportunities.

She also cited a $64 million bond approved in 2017 to improve school facilities at four elementary schools, the renovations of which are now all complete.

“Students and teachers have access to beautiful and improved learning spaces that are essential to facilitating teaching and learning and to boost strong, safe school communities, all of which are foundations of the equity and whole students parts of the strategic plan,” Lentz said.

The plan’s next category is people, and Lentz said an improved onboarding process, a district-wide back-to-school staff meeting at Merrill Auditorium, and increased wages for educational technicians passed by the board in October are all initiatives to support district staff.

“We know that our people in Portland Public Schools are our biggest asset, and retaining our talented staff is essential to the success of our district and our students,” she said. 

The final strategy, focused on systems, is about creating better and more equitable district operations. To that end, Lentz said, the district is working on improved internal data, and is looking toward the next public budget vote, which she said should be a similar size to last year’s of $161 million.

“It will take all of us to create a budget that meets the needs of our students while also remaining fiscally responsible to the community Portland,” Lentz said.

Lentz also addressed the district payroll breakdown of 2022, and said after two years of difficulty, she could finally say that the district had completed implementation of its new payroll system, ADP. However, she said, one issue remains with payments into the state public retirement system, called MainePERS.

The board approved a $500,000 contract with accounting firm BerryDunn in November to review and reconcile the errors over a more than year-old process.

Lentz has served on the board as an at-large member since June 2022. She was first chosen to chair the board that December, replacing Emily Figdor, who stepped down from the role. In November the board informally picked Lentz to continue in the role, and formalized the appointment at its last meeting on Dec. 3.

Lentz gave her first City Council address in 2022 amid a district payroll crisis and the search for a new superintendent.

One councilor in attendance Monday night was former school board member Benjamin Grant, who was elected to the council in November and resigned his seat on the school board earlier this month. The council decided on a plan to fill that open seat later in the meeting when it approved a special election for June 10, 2025, the same day as the school budget vote.

The person who fills the seat will only serve the 6-month remainder of Grant’s term and would have to run again in November.